Socket for fence-posts



UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

JOEL S. BLOOD AND JAMES W. MILLER, OF NEWPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SOCKET FOR FENCE-POSTS..

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,958, dated July 3, 1860.

To all 'whom 'it may concer/n.:

Be it known that we, JoEL S. BLOOD and JAiwrEs W. MILLER, both of Newport, in the county of Sullivan and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and Improved Socket for Fence-Posts; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, is a. perspective view of the socket with a section of the post inserted therein; and Fig. 2, is a view of the same section of the post.

The same letters refer to corresponding parts in the respective figures.

A, is the socket entire, which should be made of cast iron or other suitable material, in the form of a wedge, or in pyramidal form, for the more easy insertion of the same into the earth. It should be hollow i'nside to secure lightness and the saving of material. The opening at the top of the socketfor the reception of the post, may be square, or oblong, or circular, as may be preferred.

a, b, are open spaces or apertures on the wedge side of the socket, for the purpose of ventilation, and for saving material. The opposite side of the socket has corresponding apertures for the same purposes. .6, f, are open spaces, or apertures in the pointed or pyramidal side of the socket, the opposite side having corresponding apertures, also for ventilation and the saving of material. c, cl, are open spaces or apertures on the wedge side of the socket, the opposite side having corresponding apertures, for the purpose of saving material, and also for the admission of the earth to the inside of the socket, which thus serves to confine the socket more firmly in place. g, 7L, are spaces or apertures in the pointed or pyramidal side of the socket, the opposite side having corresponding apertures, for the same purposes as the apertures c, (Z, on the wedge sides of the socket.

B, is a section of the post projecting above the socket, to which the rails are to be fastened.

C, is the tenon, or that portion of the post to be inserted in the socket, and extending down to the line 7c, as seen in the apertures b, and f.

i, z', &c., are beveled moldings surrounding the socket at the top, and j, y', &c., are

beveled moldings surrounding the lower part of the post at the point of its insertion in the socket, and are designed for the purpose of conducting the water from and protecting from its effects, that port-ion of t-he post inserted in the socket.

The socket should be two and a half or three feet long, more or less, as may be necessary for its firm insertion in the earth, and of sufficient size at the top for the reception of the tenon of the post to be inserted in it. As it is 4necessary that the tenon, or lower section C, of the post inserted in the socket, should have as free ventilationas possible to protect it from rot and decay, the socket when used in the construction of fences, should not be inserted in the earth below the lower line of the apertures b and f, thus leaving an open space between the bottom of the post and the surface of the earth for the free circulation of the air. The socket may be varied in form, and its apertures may be varied in shape and number as may be deemed best to secure the object for which the socket is designed.

The advantages gained by the use of the socket above described are abvious. The first cost of the socket is but little more than that of an entire wooden post. It can be i11- serted in the earth with much less labor and expense, and when once set, would require no re-setting, but would serve for the receptio-n of new posts in the place of decayed ones, until itself was destroyed by oxidation or accident. It would be of eminent value in the prairies of the western States where timber is scarce, and also in meadows liable to overflow from freshets, as the fence could be so constructed as to be easily removed and replaced, the sockets remaining constantly in the ground.

Having above described our new socket, and its construction and use, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The socket A, for the reception of fence posts, constructed substantially as above described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this ninth day of November, A. D. 1859.

JOEL S. BLOOD. JAMES W. MILLER.

Witnesses:

FRANCES M. BURKE, EDMUND BURKE. 

